Trusting Dragons
by roar of the fire dragon
Summary: A chance encounter of Ryuya, a rogue female dragon slayer searching for her long lost brother, and Lucy, the celestial wizard of Fairy Tail, leads to unexpected results.
1. Chapter 1: A Strange Place

This is my first story _ever_, so could readers help me create it by giving reviews and helpful pointers!

Fairy Tail doesn't belong to me; it belongs to Hiro Mashima. This is a completely fan made story.

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Chapter 1

"Dammit! Where the hell am I?" I glance around, taking in my surroundings. I could've sworn I was deep in Hargeon Forest, but none of the landscape looks familiar to me. Sure moss covered trees, tweeting birds and millions of damn mosquitoes equals a forest, but this is not the one I was just in. Never been so unsure, I close my eyes and probe my mind, searching for any useful memories to assure myself that I'm not lost.

"_You must not grow older than your brother! I shall freeze you in time, and when your brother awakens once more, so shall you."_

My eyes fly open in surprise and recognition. That's right, I remember a mysterious voice, neither male nor female, that spoke in my head and when it stopped, a strange magic enveloped me. I felt my body slow down and two magic circles appeared; one above me and one under my feet. A gel-like substance enveloped me, covering me from head to toe, stopping my movements completely and before I knew it, my eyes had grown heavy and I had fallen asleep, and when I awoke, I was here. So I'm still in Hargeon Forest, huh?

Something clicks in my mind. The Voice said they would freeze me in time until my brother awakened, but how long has it been? And why wouldn't my brother be aging? I feel the blood drain from my face, making it grow pale. Lifting my head, I sniff the air. The scent of salt enters my nose. Turning my head, I sprint full out towards the smell. I know Hargeon is a port town, so wherever the sea is, that's where Hargeon is.

Bursting out of the forest, I screech precariously on the edge of a cliff. Down below, Hargeon thrives with life like it always has. Nothing seems to have changed here, but I could tell the trees in the forest had grown bigger and older. Sliding down the side of the cliff, I stop at the edge of the port town. Cautiously, I make my way into town. Immediately, people begin to whisper to each other and sneak peeks at me when they think I'm not looking.

A girl whispers to the guy next to her, "Isn't that wizard one of the one's that was lost seven years ago?"

"Dummy," the guy hisses, "she's a girl!"

"So what?"

"So, the one that disappeared was a guy!" He notices me watching them and quickly rushes his girl away.

Something's wrong, I can feel it in my bones. Glancing at a nearby newsstand, I see the year on one of the newspapers. 791? It's been seven years? I feel the world drop out from under me as I try and grasp the concept of my time stopping. I didn't age, but everybody else has…

A cough brings me back to reality. I turn to see a dinky, little man in a green suit and shiny black shoes standing next to me.

"Miss, I would advise that you change clothes quickly."

I stare at the little man, dumbstruck. I'm about to go crazy after not aging for seven years, and he wants me to change _clothes?_

He wipes his sweating forehead with a handkerchief. If he's hot, maybe he shouldn't be wearing a suit. "My name's Sanders. Joyce Sanders. I run a fashion line to help the needy, and you're definitely in need of help."

I open my mouth, but flap it stupidly, like a fish. Finally, I manage to say, "Isn't Joyce normally a girl's name?"

A vein pops out along Sander's head (There's no way I'm calling him Joyce). "Fine. I was just trying to mention that your clothes are _way _out of style, but you have the nerve to go and insult me. Good riddance to you. Youngsters these days." He turns around and stalks off, intent on being anywhere but around me. Laughing to myself, I realize that Sanders is right. If I don't want to stand out, I may as well get into the latest fashion sense.

Looking around, I spy a Dragon's Gold store, the cheapest clothing store there is that has clothes that are in style. As I walk in the employees gasp and avert there eyes away from me. Yeah, yeah. Turn away from the girl with no fashion sense.

"May I help you?" Turning, I don't see anybody near me. Confused, I make a complete 360 degree spin. "Um… down here." A small person stands at my side. No more than four feet, five inches at height, the small girl has long, waist-length, ruby red hair and soft chocolate brown eyes framed by many lashes. I learn her name, Fiamma, by glancing at her name tag and I realize she's actually older than me at age twenty-three. "May I help you?" she repeats, and I can tell by the way she's asking that she's not really asking. Even if I say no, she'll help anyway to get rid of the horrid sight of out of fashion clothes.

"Sure." The words are barely out of my mouth before she's pulled me to a clothing rack.

"Julio, get the guys out of here!" she yells, not sounding like the petite little things she looks. A brown, shaggy haired man looks up from a computer, sighs and gives me a look of pity.

"Again, Fiamma?" He flinches as she gives him the coldest glare I've ever seen in my life. "Alright, alright. Guys, move out, Fiamma's found another victim. Tyrone, Neil, move it!" Herding the guys into the storage room, he turns to me. "I hope you survive."

Victim? And what does Julio mean by 'survive'? As the door clicks shut, Fiamma faces me. She studies me, from my head to my toes, and I feel oddly violated by her gaze. After long last, she sighs and turns to two of her colleagues. "Lucentezza," a tall woman with medium-length golden blonde hair glances up, "Kara," this time an average height, short black haired woman reacts, "I'm gonna need your help with this one. She's nearly a lost cause."

Before I know what's going on, they've stripped me of my clothes and tossed them in the waste basket. Ah, so that's why the guys had to get out before. After taken my measurements, they flit around the room pulling dresses off of racks and designer shoes from the shelves.

"Excuse me." My voice halts them in their tracks. "I don't want anything fancy, just something comfortable and easy to move around in." They all stare at me like they don't know what I mean. "I'm talking about shorts and a tee-shirt; no skirts, dresses, lacy tops or designer shoes. Got it?" I seriously thought I was going to be killed. The menace I felt come from them hit me like a ton of bricks, making me take a couple steps back, but they put back all the designer clothes they had taken out and started to find normal, everyday stuff.

"Miss, could we remove these? They're in the way." Kara motions towards my earrings.

My hand reaches up to cradle them. Memories come flooding back to me that stab right where it hurts. The dragon claw earrings are the only thing Cisarius gave me before he left me without saying where he was going. He said he'd be back, but it's been seven, no, now it's been fourteen years. "No, I'm sorry, but you're going to have to work with them."

Kara nods, but I can tell she's annoyed and goes off to converse with Lucentezza and Fiamma about their findings. Each woman comes and goes, holding clothes up to see how they look on me before scoffing and whipping them away again. I stand there patiently knowing if I try to escape, they'd probably knock me unconscious to keep me here.

After what seemed like hours, but truthfully it's only been five minutes, they came to an agreement on my new wardrobe. I close my eyes, dreading to open them to find designer clothes on me again, but when I open them, I've found the woman to have done their job well. A pair of white stretchable shorts for bottoms and a white cami with a long, black shirt that has the right sleeve cut off on top of that. The shirt extends to about mid-thigh, and a brown, leather belt with a silver buckle holds it securely against my waist. A smaller version of the belt is around my upper arm to bind the sleeve tightly to my arm. The collar of the shirt is low to show off my earrings, and I notice the cut on the shirt is rather low as well. Comfortable black running sandals have been placed on my feet to my delight.

"Good job, ladies, this is exactly what I was looking for!"

They heave a sigh of relief and burst into grins. Lucentezza sighs as she looks at me. "I think the clothes are a little dull," Kara and Fiamma nod in agreement, "but as the boss always says," Kara and Fiamma chime in, "'the customer is always correct!'"

Now I'm annoyed. "Can I have my bill please?"

"Right away!" After punching in a lot of numbers into the cash register, Fiamma hands me a slip of paper. "Here's you're total."

I can't believe my eyes! 50,000 Jewels? How can clothes cost this much? "Excuse me," Fiamma, Kara, and Lucentezza all turn to stare at me, "I think you're calculations are off. There seems to be an extra zero on this amount."

"No, that's correct." Kara states, batting her fake eyelashes at me, "Those may not be designer brands, but you did have a complete and total makeover, so fork over the Jewels."

I really hate that woman. Digging out my money, I regret ever coming into this shop. I might've even done better with Sanders. After paying the bill, I have but a measly 100 Jewels left. I can't even buy a pack of gum with this. I decide to work a bunch of small jobs to work back the money those witches stole back.

At Hargeon's job request board, I scoop up the highest reward jobs immediately. Someone must've just taken a bunch of high paying jobs since the only one's that are left have rewards of 10,000 Jewels or less. After working for two days and two nights, with no food, I've finally regained my 50,000 Jewels. My triumph is short lived as my stomach lets loose its complaints. As I rub it, trying to comfort it, strong hands grab me by the shoulders and spin me around. Bracing myself, since I'm expecting a pervert of an old man, surprise hits me as I come face to face with a girl about my age who looks ready to spit fire.

Chapter 1 End


	2. Chapter 2: Odd Stranger

Chapter 2

My name's Lucy Heartfilia. I'm a celestial wizard of Fairy Tail, and I've been left behind by two of my team members while on a job.

"Natsu! Natsu, dammit, answer me!" Frustrated, I yell out his name again, "Natsu!" Forcing down tears, I start pacing back and forth across the square. I only came out on a job with him because he insisted on it. He wouldn't let up and leave me alone, so I finally caved and let him take me on a job.

Just recently we were on Tenroujima, Fairy Tail's sacred island, taking an S Class Wizard Exam. Okay, _I _wasn't. I was there as Cana's partner. There was no way I was going to let Cana fail this year. She had failed to pass the exam four years in a row, and if she didn't pass this year, she said she would leave the guild! After becoming an S Class Wizard, Cana was going to tell her father that he, in fact, had a daughter.

But Grimoire Heart, the leading dark guild, invaded Tenroujima declaring a Demon on Fairy war where the winner got Black Wizard Zeref. Apparently he was on the island, and Grimoire Heart wanted him bad. We were almost wiped out, yet us fairies beat the demons, but Zeref called on Acnologia; the black dragon! The dragon toyed with use before almost completely destroying Tenroujima. Before the dragon's magic hit the island, we focused all of our magical power on Levy and Fried as they created defensive magic. Acnologia's magic would've blown the island away anyway if Mavis Vermillion, Fairy Tail's founding master, hadn't put an extremely strong shield bubble around the entire island. Unfortunately, the magic hid the island under the sea and it took seven years to wear off and by that time, everyone in the guild believed us to be dead.

They had almost given up hope when Blue Pegasus, a guild who's a friend of ours, came with news; Tenroujima still exists! Sailing on Fairy Tail's ship, Mavis revealed the island to them. We were all extremely surprised when we woke up. Not only had we survived, but we hadn't aged for seven years unlike everybody else. Our hearts nearly broke as we saw the state the guild became. Its reputation had sunk so low it wasn't even recognized as a guild of Magnolia anymore. Learning this Natsu became "fire up", as he put, and drug me along on a job with him, but after all that he _left me alone._

My rage was building up when I noticed the familiar rose colored spikes bobbing in and out of the crowds. "Heh heh heh. Gotchya now, Mr. Ditch!" I whisper to myself. Slipping around all the people, I grab Natsu by the shoulders and spin him around. "Think you can give me the slip, huh? Well, think… think…" My voice trails off as I realize this person isn't Natsu at all.

Instead of spiky, rose colored hair, they've got spiky, silver hair with rose highlights that's just long enough that's it's tied behind their head. I glance down to notice that their clothes are just like Natsu's, only it has a lower collar and cut around the neck and instead of capris, they've got on shorts. I sneak a look at their face again, taking in slanty black eyes and pointy ears with… claw earrings? A flush begins to crawl its way across my face as I realize I've made a huge mistake. This is a girl! How could I think she was Natsu? I begin to back away, apologizing.

"I'm sorry-" I begin, but the strange girl grabs my arms, her grip like iron.

"Miss, will you do me a favor?" Her voice is much deeper than I imagined from such a small person and I start to panic.

"Um, I don't know you, so…" I start to struggle and I try to pull away from her. I just got out of heaps of trouble. I don't need back in instantly.

"I'm… I'm… just so hungry!" She wails, rubbing her stomach.

Huh? Stunned by the sheer Natsu-like statement, I cease pulling away. Sliding to the ground, she lets go of my arms and lets out a moan. "Are you okay…?"

Glaring at me, she snaps. "No! I'm so hungry, I can't even think straight!" She begins to mumble about types of meat she'd like to eat. She sits there on the ground, complaining and all I can do is stare. I snap out of it and laugh. The girl turns around, stunned. Frozen, she looks at me with concern in her eyes. "Um… Lady?"

"It's fine, it's fine!" I say, "Why are you so hungry anyway? Why don't you just go buy some food?"

The girl's face darkens. "My clothes were out of style after seven years," Seven years? She must've meant seven months. "so I went to that Dragon's Gold," she points across the square to a bustling shop, "Big mistake. Never, _NEVER_, go there. It's like hell." She shudders violently even though it's 92 degrees out. "The employees are devils. At least the woman are. Since I had a head to toe makeover, the bill was sky high and they robbed me of my money. I had to work for two days and nights, with no food, to make up my money loss. My stomach was revealing its complaints when you grabbed me. So, could you feed me? Please?" She trails off as I begin to laugh. "Hey! It's not funny!" She purses her lip and whips her head away.

Brushing tears from my eyes, I hold out my hand to help her off the ground. "Oh, but it is!" She refuses my hand and continues to pout on the ground. I lean down to whisper in her ear. "It's my treat. Whaddya say?"

Her eyes brighten. "Promise?"

"Promise what?"

"That it's your treat!"

I have a sinking feeling in my stomach, but I agree anyway. "Pinky swear."

She leaps from the ground. "Thanks a bunch, lady!"

"Hey now. None of that lady stuff. I'm only seventeen. My name's Lucy. And you?"

Her eyes grow wide with shock, "You're only seventeen? I thought you were maybe thirty or something…"

I don't like this girl. I spend good money on age defying creams and what happens? I look thirty. Heh heh heh… This girl's gonna eat her words.

Realizing her mistake, she looks at me and grins. "Whoops! Sorry! The name's Ryuya, but you can call be Ryu. I'm seventeen as well." I gape at her as she skips off singing about food. So, I'm seventeen, yet I look thirty. She's seventeen, but she looks like she's thirteen or fourteen. The world is completely and utterly unfair.

Inside The Wyvern's Lair, a small restaurant in Hargeon, I order a spring salad and a glass of water. Maybe I should lose a few pounds…

"You call that a meal?" I look up from the menu to see Ryu's disgusted face staring at me. "That's rabbit food!"

"Humph! I'm going on a diet."

"Whatever." She turns back to the menu. "I'll take five beef steaks, medium-rare, two chicken pot pies, three, no four sausage and bacon omelets, two dozen lamb kabobs, seven tacos, whatever kind is fine, ten grilled salmon filets, three loaves of French bread, five baked potatoes, three cobs of corn, a bowl of green beans and a watermelon. No, not a slice of watermelon. An_ entire_ watermelon. Oh, and a couple gallons of booze would be nice, as well." The waiter had trouble keeping up with her order and as he finished scribbling it down on his notepad, he bowed stiffly and walked away. Ryu turns to me and smirks. "Now that's a meal."

I flap my mouth like a fish out of water. My money. It's disappearing faster than I can fathom. It's like one of those dreams where you're in a black tunnel and there's light at the far end, but no matter how hard and long you run, you can never reach it. I collapse in a heap onto the table as Ryu begins to create pictures with the salt and pepper she poured out of the shakers.

Trying to strike a conversation, I sit up again. "So, what do you do for a living, Ryu?"

She blows the salt and pepper off the table, onto my lap. "Well, I don't really have a permanent job. I'm a wizard, and so I take requests from people who have them. Oooh!" Her eyes look past me. I turn around the see our order coming our way.

The food arrives at the table with the entire wait staff carrying it. Pulling an extra table against the end of ours, they set the food down. "We hope you enjoy yourself!" They hadn't even finished putting the food down before Ryu dug in.

"This is great!" She exclaims as she's shoving food in her mouth like there's no tomorrow, but she's not wasting anything.

I ask for a to-go container, suddenly losing my appetite. I watch her lose her dignity, knowing that if I say anything, she'll just brush me off with something like, "Food is everything!" or "There's absolutely nothing wrong with food!" I sigh and hold my head in my hands, my elbows resting on the table.

"So," Ryu's voice startles me. I thought she'd be too busy eating to talk. "what do you do for work?"

"My job…Babysitting. My friends are rather odd, so I'm always looking after them. As for a paying job, I'm the same as you." Ryu stops eating (yep, shocker) to give me a startled look. "Yeah, I'm a wizard myself. A celestial wizard. I belong to a guild though. Fairy Tail's been very good to me." Something dawns on me just then. "Hey, Ryu. What kind of wizard are you anyway?"

She swallows her food and gives me a cool stare completely unlike her personality. She taps the table with her fingers before sighing and clearing her throat. "I don't like to reveal that since people immediately fight me afterwards, claiming that they're going to beat me, but I can tell you won't do that."

I gape at her. "Uh, duh. What kind of idiot would do that?" Then again, what kind of magic does she use that would get that reaction out of someone?

Ryu ponders that statement. "Well, there was that guy in Callirra and the brothers in Lassennis, that gorilla woman in Edevi and that gang in Avahali…" She would've continued, but I held up my hand, signaling I got it.

"If you're not supposed to reveal what magic you use, why did those guys know?"

She blinked in surprise and opened her mouth, then froze in that position for a moment. "They must have heard me tell the request masters when they asked what kind of magic I use." Ryu noticed my confused look and explains. "In a guild, the guild master gives you permission to accept a request. Well, when you're not in a guild you receive jobs from the town request board. To be able to properly accept that job, it has to go through that town's request master, and for them to officially give you that job, they have to know and record what kind of magic you use."

I nod. That makes sense. Ryu smiles and returns to her food. "Hey!"

She looks up, annoyed. "What? I'm trying to rejuvenate here."

"You never did tell me what kind of magic you use." She avoids eye contact and I realize she purposely didn't tell me. She still hesitant to tell me, and I don't blame her. I'm a stranger and other strangers have attacked her before, but I'm paying for her lunch, so she'd better tell me!

After a few more moments, she looks up at me, this time straight in my eyes. "My magic is Dragon Slayer. I'm a Silver Dragon Slayer."

Chapter 2 End


	3. Chapter 3: Who is Ryu?

Chapter 3

Cruising the market, I spot a toy in a pile of others. My eyes brighten as I realize what it is. "Happy, look at this!" Laughing, I hold up the very realistic rubber snake. "Do you think Lucy would like it?" I imagine her reaction after I stuff it down her shirt. Shrieking, arm waving, tears. The usual reaction from her.

"Aye, sir! She'd love it!" Happy, my best friend who happens to be a flying blue cat, floats next to me. "But, um, Natsu…"

"Yeah?" After paying for the snake, I continue to walk through the market.

"Will Lucy be okay by herself? We did drag her here, yet we left her alone…" Happy gets a worried look on his face, but I laugh it off.

"It's fine! She's always complaining about working anyway!"

"And who's working?" An annoyed voice sounds in my ear. My hands grow sweaty as I turn to see Lucy glaring at me, menace in her eyes. "Didn't we have a job to do? The one you left me alone to go do, and yet I find you playing with toys."

Hiding the snake, I answer her, "We finished it."

"Oh? Where's my share of the pay?" She smiles cruelly.

She just gets meaner and meaner. "But you didn't help with the job…" I reply softly.

SNAP.

Shit. That didn't sound good. Better get away quickly. But before I can hightail it away, I'm caught.

"Who dragged me here against my will and then left me alone to go do the job we accepted?" Lucy shrieks in my ear. Grabbing me by the cheeks, she yanks and yanks, stretching them out as far as she possibly could.

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Sorry! Here's your share!" I hand her a bag of jewels, 7,000 in total, while rubbing my red face. She's a demon. Unlike Mira who uses takeover magic to become a demon, Lucy's already is one.

"Pfft! Ha ha ha ha ha ha!" Roaring laughter erupts from behind Lucy. Peek around Lucy, I spy a small girl. She's doubled over laughing, clutching her stomach in pain.

"Lucy, who's that?" I nudge her and point to the girl.

Lucy doesn't look up from counting the jewels. "That's Ryu. I almost took out my rage on her when I mistook her for you. I took her out to lunch for an apology."

All I can do is stare at Ryu. I feel like I know her, but I don't remember ever meeting her.

"I think I want to join your guild!" Ryu gasps and stands up straight, "It seems like a fun place to go, and I have a feeling I need to join."

"I know her!" some part is screaming at me, but I don't remember her at all. I hold my head, racking my memories, trying to find a clue.

Finished counting the Jewels, Lucy stashes them away and turns to Ryu. "Why did you decide to come to Fairy Tail with us?"

Ryu pauses before answering, "I know this sounds crazy, but for seven years I was frozen in time. Seven years ago a voice spoke to me and said 'You must not get older than your brother. When your brother awakens, so shall you.' And then I was ensnared in some weird magic. It let me go two days. I have this feeling, an instinct, that if I go with you, I'll find my brother."

"Natsu!" Lucy's voice jolts me back to reality, "Did you hear that!" Lucy's face appears in my line of vision. "It's like us, only without the creepy voice!"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Ryu glances back and forth between me and Lucy, confusion written across her face.

I cleared my throat and Ryu's gaze returned to me, "We were taking an S Class Wizard Exam when an enemy guild attacked. Events piled up and a black dragon nearly blew away the island we were on." Ryu's eyes grew wide with shock, "The guild's founding master protected us with a powerful spell, but it didn't wear off until two days ago."

Ryu's eyebrows bunch together as she knits her forehead. There were a couple moments silence between us until Ryu spoke. "So, with this new information, it's highly logical my brother is in your guy's guild, Fairy Tail was it?" Her eyes glow with anticipation.

Lucy nods a couple times, then she turns to me. "Hey, are you okay?" I blink in confusion, "You're really quiet. It's freaking me out." Ignoring that statement about me freaking her out, I turn back to Ryu. I study her, still racking my brain. A sharp pain gets my attention.

"What?" I glare at Lucy as she digs her heel into my foot.

"Don't stare! Not only is it rude, it's creepy when you do it!"

I sigh, but look away from Ryu anyway.

"So," Lucy turns back to Ryu, "what's your brother's name?"

Ryu shrugs her shoulders, "Dunno."

"Wha? How can you not know your own brothers name?"

"Easy," Ryu replies, "I've never met him. Apparently, according to Cisarius, we were separated at birth."

"Okay," Lucy tries again, "Do you know what he looks like?"

"Dunno again."

Lucy sighs in exasperation, "Don't you know anything about him?"

Ryu nods her head, "Sure. I know his age; seventeen, which makes him my older twin brother and I know the type of magic he uses. That's all Cisarius told me before he left."

That name. I've heard it before. A long time ago. But how long ago? "Hey, Ryu. Who's the Cisarius person?"

Ryu turns her head to stare at me. "He's my father, but Cisarius isn't a person; he's dragon."

"You know a dragon?" I grab Ryu by the shoulders, making her eyes grow wide and a little gasp escapes from her, "You said he left. How long ago was that?"

Ryu shakes me off, surprising me. She's got incredible strength for a girl of her size. "Cisarius left fourteen years ago on the seventh day of the seventh month." I begin to open my mouth, but she wasn't finished talking yet, "That's when all the dragons left. It's not that big a deal."

"Huh?" Confusion courses through my body, "What are you talking about?"

Ryu gives me a cool stare as she examines me from head to toe, "So you know a dragon too, huh? I can tell. Well, all the dragons left fourteen years ago because they had business that humans couldn't meddle in. I know this because Cisarius told me this much since six other dragons gathered to him before he left."

"Why?" Lucy's voice joins ours, reminding me that she was there, "Why would they gather to Cisarius?"

"Why?" Ryu grins, "Because Cisarius is the lead dragon lord, only second to the king. The six dragons, the ones that met up with him, are the other lords."

All I can hear is Ryu's voice and the sound of my own heart, pounding inside me. "Who… who were the other dragons?"

She pauses for a second before answering, "There was Floreta, the green dragon. She was very beautiful. And Rolando, the amber dragon. He was really talkative and extremely annoying. The blue dragon, Grandine, was very nice and gentle to everyone. No, scratch that. She didn't like Acnologia, the black dragon." Hearing Lucy's gasp, Ryu turns to her and smiles gently, "Yes, the same dragon that nearly decimated your guild's island. He's the least strong of all the dragon lords, but that doesn't make him weak, as you know. Metalicana, the gray dragon, didn't say much, but I liked him better than Acnologia." Ryu ceases talking as she gets a confused look on her face before she smacks her forehead, "Duh! How could I forget Cisarius's best friend? Igneel, the red dragon, is Cisarius's right hand man, er, dragon."

It gets hard to breathe and I start to wobble where I stand. Lucy and Ryu prop me up on each of my shoulders as my legs give way. "Igneel." I murmur. Someone, besides me, knows Igneel.

Ryu gasps, hearing my whisper. "_You're _Igneel's boy?" My head whips around to meet her eyes. "You're the Fire Dragon Slayer?"

"Yes. Did Igneel talk about me to you?"

Ryu's eyes fill with tears as she slides to the ground, sobbing. Afraid I said something to upset her, I kneel next to her, trying to comfort her, but I don't know what to do or say. She looks at me through blurry eyes and whispers "Brother."

"EEEEEHHH?" Lucy's disbelief echoes through the streets, "_Natsu's_ you're brother? How do you know?"

Ryu smiles, hiccuping, as she stares at me and rubs her eyes dry. "Cisarius and Igneel told me. They said after they found Natsu, they discovered he had a twin sister; me."

My heart fills with joy as I realize that this is why I felt like I knew her. She's my sibling. My one and only younger sister.

"Hold up," Lucy raises her hands, "How did two twins end up both being trained by dragons as Dragon Slayers? That's just way too unlikely."

Ryu's eyes darken with malice and she turns away, so she doesn't have to look at us. When she turns back around, her eyes are bright and she's stopped crying. "I'll tell you later, I promise. But I want to see this new guild that I'm joining!"

Chapter 3 End


	4. Chapter 4: The Warmth of Fairy Tail

Chapter 4

"Ahhhhhh! It's good to be back!" I stretch my arms far above my head and fall onto my bed in exhaustion. Far too tired to change into pj's, I only pull off my jacket and crawl under the covers. It's so comfy and soft. Warm too. My eyes flew open. _Warm? No… It can't be…_ I lift the comforter and peek underneath. Two spikey haired heads lay under there. "Eeeeeeyahhhh!"

"Yawwwnnn!" Ryu lifts her head, rubbing her eyes, "What's wrong?" Natsu didn't even stir.

"Wh-what are you doing in my house, in my _bed?"_ I'm revolted. Natsu's known for sneaking into my bed, but his sister too? What's wrong with their family?

"Well, I didn't have a place to stay since I just got to Magnolia tonight, so Natsu brought me here." She yawns again, "Its okay, right?"

"Go sleep at Natsu's place!" I shriek.

"Sleep at a guy's place? No way. Besides, you have to keep your promise to take me to Fairy Tail." Ryu looks at me, her eyes sparkling with anticipation.

I sigh, "I will! I promised, okay! Now, please, take Natsu and go to his place."

"Nope, Natsu and I have had a tough day, so I don't want to move him." Ryu grins at me, "It's like a sleepover." She rolled over, facing towards Natsu, and promptly fell asleep.

"My bed, my house, another day sleeping on the floor." I grumble as I crawl onto the floor and re-arrange myself to get comfortable. My head barely hits my pillow before I'm enveloped in black.

* * *

The swishing sound of the curtains being drawn back awakens me as the bright sunlight blinds my eyes. Ryu bounds around the room in excitement. "Let's go! Let's go!" How can she be the same age as me? I pull on my clothes and make my way downstairs to find Ryu eating a pound of bacon.

"Hey!" Ryu looks up, her mouth full of the meat, "Don't you know how expensive bacon is?"

She shrugs, shoving more in her mouth, "No idea."

"Argh! At least save some for me!" I exclaim, reaching for the plate.

Ryu smacks my hand and points to a tiny plate, "Your bacon is over there."

On the plate are five slices of beef jerky. Wait, no, five slices of extremely burnt bacon. Great, she takes my bed and eats all my bacon except for the blackened pieces which she gives to me. What a grateful girl. I fry two eggs, batting Ryu's attempts at stealing them, and lay them on pieces of honey-wheat toast. By then Ryu is trembling in excitement and I quickly chow down one slice of toast.

"Ready?" I ask.

Ryu leaps to her feet, shouting, "Am I ever!" She sprints outside, leaving the door hanging wide open.

I snicker as Ryu leaps ahead of me, as bouncy as a puppy. Following her, I take a bite out of my second piece of toast and fried egg.

"The guild's not going anywhere!" I call out to her, which halts her in her tracks.

"True, but the day is. I want to meet _everyone!"_

_She's got a point, and the guild is full of people. It will take all day for her to introduce herself._ I glance around, finally noticing Natsu isn't here. "Ryu, is Natsu still asleep?"

Ryu doubles back to walk next to me. "Nope. He went on ahead to the guild."

I'm so surprised I can't even reply. Usually, I have to pry him out of my bed in the morning. We walk in an awkward silence until we reach the guild doors. I hold an arm out, stopping Ryu from going in.

"A word of warning: this guild is capable of anything, so be prepared for anything." I don't want her to get a bad impression on her first impression. We walk through the entry way to a small tavern, with beat up chairs and the request board only has a dozen jobs, but the laughter coming from the hall brightens the whole place up. The guild's reputation used to be huge; making it the number one guild in Magnolia, but it fell after the guild's strongest wizards disappeared. Mira called to us from the counter.

"Welcome to Fairy Tail! Oh, it's just you Lucy," Mira smiles sweetly at me. It's hard to imagine her as "Mirajane the Demon"; the S Class Wizard known for her takeover form of Satan. Mira glances to my side and spies Ryu, who had hidden behind me after my warning, "Oh, who's that?"

Before I can answer, Natsu notices our arrival and hurls himself at us from one of the tables, "Ryu! You're here!" Ryu dodges easily, letting him continue out the door to slam into some empty barrels.

"Hey there, Natsu. I'm glad to see you, too. But," Ryu smiles, but her eyes aren't, "no hugging."

Gasps echo around the guild.

"Natsu…"

"…has…"

"…a girlfriend?"

"No way!"

"Impossible!"

"You've got to be joking!" Gray stands up to reveal, once again, he has lost his clothes, "This is Natsu we're talking about. There's no way he could get a girlfriend, let alone be able to _keep _one."

The barrels explode as Natsu envelopes himself in his flames. He leaps at Gray, throwing a punch.

"What was that, Ice Cube? There's no way Ryu could be my girlfriend! She's my sister!"

Silence follows Natsu's outburst. Everyone in the guild stops and stares, first at Natsu, then at Ryu and back to Natsu. Erza sets down her strawberry cake before she drops it. Cana actually stops drinking to catch up on the situation. Gray's eyes grow wide with shock and his jaw drops. Levy accidentally knocks over her ink pot spilling it all over Jet and Droy's laps.

The silence is finally broken as Mira speaks, "Levy, the ink."

The guild once again erupts into noise.

"Whoa!"

"Really? Brother and sister?"

"Why have we never heard of her?"

"She does look a bit like him…"

Ryu and Erza somehow make eye contact from across the hall. Ryu curls her lip in a sneer, and she leaps from the doorway at Erza. Whipping out one of her swords, Erza takes a fighting stance, while Ryu creates one from silver. The two swords clash and the resulting sound echoes around the guild. The entire guild sucks in a breath. They're all thinking the same thing; 'What's the new girl thinking, taking on Erza first thing?'

"You're strong, stronger than Natsu, aren't you?" Erza smiles as she throws Ryu backwards.

Ryu smirks and flips around to land back on her feet like a cat, "I like to think so."

She throws her sword at Erza who deflects it, impaling it into one of the walls.

I call out to Ryu and Erza, "Erza, Ryu," They turn to look at me, "Please. Not inside the guild." They glance at each other and sigh. Erza sends her sword back to wherever she keeps it and the silver sword melts away as quickly as it was made.

"So," Erza sets her hand on Ryu's shoulder, "You're Natsu's sister."

Ryu smiles, nodding her head, as the guild creeps closer to her, sneaking peeks, while evaluating her strength. Ryu spins her head around to look at the members who all leap back, startled. She looks at everyone intently, before cocking her head a bit and grinning. "My name's Ryu Celto. I'm Natsu's younger twin sister. Nice to meet you all!"

The guys all get a pinkish tint to their faces while the girls smile and, one by one, welcome Ryu into the guild.

Levy walks up to Ryu, clasping her hands together with Ryu's, "Hello, my name's Levy McGarden."

"I'm Cana Alberona." Cana states, patting her on the shoulder.

"How are you?" Laki pats Ryu's other shoulder, "The name's Laki Olietta."

Wendy slowly walks up to Ryu, stuttering, trying to introduce herself, "Um… I'm Wendy Marvel. It… it's a pleasure to meet you."

"I'm Juvia Lockser." Juvia looks around, and then whispers in Ryu's ear, "You're not here for Gray-sama, would you? Juvia would dislike having you as a rival…"

An amused look flashes across Ryu's face, but seeing Juvia's glare, she quickly holds up her hands and shakes her head.

Bisca thumps her on the back, "How ya doing, girl. I'm Bisca Connell."

"I'm Lisanna Strauss and you've already met Mira-nee over there," Lisanna points to the counter where Mira smiles and waves a dish rag, "and Elf-niichan is over there with Gray and Natsu."

Ryu seems rather taken aback by all the attention she's getting, but it doesn't seem like she hates it at all. She's smiling and nodding, taking note of everybody so she can remember.

"Boys!" Cana calls over to where all the guys are clumped together, "You're being rude! Come introduce yourselves."

Hesitant at first, they slowly inch their way over towards the crowd around Ryu. No one speaks up for a while until Romeo finally sighs, breaking the silence. "Welcome, Ryu-nee, I'm Romeo Conbolt. I hope you know what you're in for." Following Romeo's lead, the guys all start talking at once.

"I'm Elfman Strauss, a man among men!" Elfman states, thumping his chest.

Loke grabs her shoulder, pulling her close to him, "What a beauty, unlike your brother. I'm Loke, pretty lady."

"Return, Leo the Lion!" Clicking his key, I return Loke to the Celestial World so she doesn't seriously injure him. From the look on her face, it wouldn't have stood a chance against her.

"I'm Fried Justine." Appearing at Ryu's right side.

Bickslow pops to her left side, "The name's Bickslow, Ryu."

Gray comes walking up, sporting a few more scrapes and bruises than before, "I'm Gray Fullbuster." He examines her from head to toe, "Wow, you look way better than your idiot of a brother."

Stifling a laugh, she points to his underwear, "You seem to be missing something."

"Agh! Not again!" Gray quickly runs off to find some suitable clothes to wear on top his boxers so as not to embarrass himself.

Ryu laughs and then stiffens. Glaring behind her, she looks down as Master Makarov pats her on the butt.

"Hmmm… Not bad!"Makarov closes his eyes and nods, "You can join!"

"Master…" Makarov freezes and slowly turns around to find Erza shooting daggers from her eyes, "Don't handle the new guild member that way."

"So sorry!" Makarov backs away in a rush so he doesn't have to face Erza's wrath.

Erza stalks up and looks down at Ryu, evaluating her with her good eye. Ryu stares back at Erza, looking at her with as much force Erza gives her, not budging and inch, but not seeming hostile all the while. Erza smiles and chuckles, holding out her hand for Ryu to shake. "You're a great woman. I can see it in your eyes."

Ryu grins and grips Erza's hand, shaking it, "I hope to fight against you again sometime, er, what's your name?"

"I'm Erza Scarlet. Nice to meet you, Ryu Celto."

The guild sighs, thankful that the guild didn't get destroyed but the two powerful women. Mira approaches Ryu and taps her on the shoulder to get her attention.

"Excuse me, Ryu, but where would you like your tattoo?" Mira holds up the stamp for Ryu to see.

Ryu stares at Mira, then to the stamp, before gazing down at her body, searching for a suitable place for the tattoo to be placed. Finally, she holds out her right arm. "Could you place it on my upper arm?"

Mira smiles sweetly, "Of course!" Placing the stamp down on Ryu's arm, she gently presses down and when she removes it… there's nothing there.

"Huh?" Mira frowns and examines the stamp and then looks back to Ryu's arm, "That's weird… There's nothing there…"

Ryu chuckles and holds out her arm, "Yes, there is. Look." The entire guild cranes forward as she twists her arm. Catching the light, the guild's symbol flashes with a silver sheen. "Since my tattoo is silver colored it's hard to see, but when it catches the light, it bedazzles all. Like me." Grinning, she shouts, "I'm a Fairy Tail wizard!"

The guild laughs, and Ryu disappears under a mound of people as they dog pile her. Natsu pulls her out of the pile, hugging her tight. Tilting his head back, he shoots out letters of fire, spelling out "Welcome Ryu!" above everyone's heads. The guild turns to Ryu and together all shout "Welcome to Fairy Tail, Ryu!" Ryu laughs and cries and laughs some more as something she's never felt hits her all at once; the warmth of the guild and all its members.

Chapter 4 End


	5. Chapter 5: The Twin Slayers' Story

Chapter 5

I'm surrounded by loud, obnoxious, perverted, annoying, pushy, no-sense-of-personal-space people. Any normal person would be utterly miserable, but I don't think I've ever been happier in my entire life.

"So you're Natsu's sister, huh?" Erza peers at me through squinted eyes, "How old are you?"

"Seventeen. We're twins, me being the younger one."

Gasps erupted from the guild.

"But she's so much more mature!"

"She acts like the older sibling!"

I smile at the dumbfounded members, "I've been searching for Natsu for years after Cisarius told me about him."

Erza knits her brow. "Who's Cisarius? How did he know about your brother, but you didn't? I mean, you're siblings after all."

"Cisarius is my father and about Natsu, Cisarius already knew about him. Ever since Igneel adopted Natsu, he's had Cisarius look after me from afar. Just to make sure I'm alright. Cisarius took me in when he felt it was a necessary move. He's very kind." I noticed as I spoke, everyone's eyes grew wide. "What?"

"Ryu…" Erza started, "Cisarius wouldn't happen to be…"

"…a dragon? Yep!" I answered her before she even finished her question.

Erza's gaze drilled a hole through my head. "So that would mean…"

"Yes, I'm a dragon slayer."

The whoops and joys of the guild engulfed me as the members cheered.

"Now we have four dragon slayers!"

"Such a rare magic and we have _four!"_

"This guild will survive still!"

Baffled, I turn to Lucy. She laughs at my expression and explains. "We have you and Natsu, and you've already met the other two; Wendy," Lucy points to the small, blue haired girl I met earlier, "the Sky Dragon Slayer, and Gajeel, the Iron Dragon Slayer. Gajeel is… Ah, there he is! He's the one eating the dishware."

Mira gasps and runs to the counter, whacking Gajeel over the head with a broom, "Gajeel! Stop eating the dishes!" Gajeel glares and drops the plates on the ground as he leaps over the counter to come towards me.

"So, you're a dragon slayer, too. Just so you know, I'm going to beat up Salamander in the future, so don't enact revenge, not like you could, shrimp." He growls at me.

"Beat up Natsu all you want, but for your information you can't and never will be able to beat me in a fair fight." I chuckle as my words cause his temper to overflow.

"Runt, I could knock you out faster then you can blink! Bet on it!" He would've continued ranting, but I interrupted him.

"You're just as Metalicana described you," Gajeel's mouth fell open, his anger disappearing like mist on a hot day, "short-tempered, thick-headed, a bit hard to get along with."

"You… know Metalicana?"

"I don't so much as know him, as I only met him fourteen years ago, before the dragons went away. I know Grandine as well, Wendy. Igneel and Metalicana wanted me to look over the idiots," I motion toward Gajeel and Natsu, "and Grandine wanted me to become your friend, so you won't be lonely." I smile around the guild as they stare back, dumbstruck. Wendy begins to cry and I instantly feel bad, so I go over to comfort her. "I'm sorry, don't be sad."

She sniffles, but smiles up at me through her tears, "I'm not sad, I'm happy, really! Grandine's always looking after me, isn't she is."

I grin and pick her up, putting her back on her feet, patting her head, "Of course, she'll never disappear either. She's with you, like how Cisarius is with me, Igneel is with Natsu and Metalicana is with Gajeel."

"Ryu-chan," Levy's small, sweet voice addresses me, "How do you know the dragons?"

Natsu's chest puffed out with pride, "It's because Igneel, Metalicana, Grandine and Cisarius are all dragon lords!"

Levy cocks her head to the side, "'Dragon lord'? What's that?"

Ryu starts explaining, patiently, for the second time in two days, "Basically, there's the supreme ruler; the dragon king, also known as the dragon god, whom I've never met. The seven are right under him; they're the dragon lords. Under them are the lords' vassals and then all the rest of the dragons are below the vassals, still being to naïve and young to have any power yet."

"Whoa!"

"Natsu, you're dad was that _powerful?"_

"I wonder what the dragon king looks like…"

"Hey~!" Levy's voices breaks through all the useless chatter, "We're getting off topic here!"

The guild members look down, sheepish, "Right. Sorry, Levy."

"Ryu-chan, please continue."

"So, fourteen years ago, when the dragons all left, the lords gathered together before leaving." Ryu saw the guild's obviously puzzled looks, "Even though the seven are the strongest dragons, besides the dragon god, there is a large power difference between them. I met the six dragons because Cisarius is the strongest dragon lord, then Igneel, Metalicana's third, Grandine fourth, Floreta fifth, the sixth is Rolando, and Acnologia is seventh."

The gasps that everyone erupted (besides me, Lucy and Natsu) almost knocked me over.

"I _knew _that black dragon was strong!"

"Hey, hey, hey, hey!" Natsu yelled, "He may be strong, but Igneel is the 3rd strongest dragon in the world!"

"Oh, yeah?" I challenged, "Igneel may be the 3rd, but Cisarius is the _2__nd__!_"

Natsu spluttered, realizing what I said was one hundred percent true, "So? Igneel is still stronger than Metalicana!"

"What did you say, Salamander?" Gajeel appeared from nowhere, scaring the living daylights out of me, "Shrimp!"

"Yes!" Levy and I chorused, before dissolving into laughter at Gajeel's stunned face. The prospect of both of us answering baffled him to no end.

"Dragon-shrimp, where did this ranking come from? There's no way Salamander's dragon is stronger than mine!" Gajeel growled, flashing a venom filled glare at Natsu.

I sighed, shrugging my shoulders, "The dragon god decided the ranking, so if you have any complaints take it up with him."

Snarling in frustration, he stalked off somewhere. Probably to eat some more plates. Mira, thinking the same thing, raced after him while calling his name. I feel a tap on my shoulder and I turn to see Lucy. "You were going to tell us why you're both dragon slayers, weren't you?" I stare at her contemplating whether or not to, but I did promise so I sit down.

"Everybody, listen up!" The guild quiets, which I think to be an unbelievable feat, "This is Natsu's and mine story."

The members pricked their ears and sat forward in their seats, eager to learn about their most mysterious member and his sister.

"We were born in a very small village, somewhere north, a place where there was always snow no matter what time of year it was. The villagers lived solitary lives and were always scared of being annihilated by some form or another since there were no soldiers or mages in the village. Because of that fear, they became extremely superstitious." I paused, glancing around the room, "You guys got this so far?" The members all nodded without saying a word, so I continued, "The village seer had a prophecy of two silhouettes, two of extreme strength, causing mischief and mayhem, and so the village became of anything that came in pairs. They killed anything and destroyed everything that came in twos."

People gasped, covering their mouths with their hands, predicting what I was going to say next.

"Y-you mean…" Levy stuttered.

I nodded sadly, "Natsu and I were born that very same year. We were feared and shunned instantly. We didn't get a chance to prove ourselves. Our parents decided that they would rather get rid of one of us rather than leave the tiny village." I looked over at Natsu, giving him a sorrowful look as his eyes grew wide when he figured it out, "They abandoned him. Setting him in a basket, with only a ratty old blanket, our parents left Natsu to die in the woods."

Not a sound was made. The guild members were shocked into silence. Natsu sat with his head down, so I can't see the expression he has on his face. Lucy's eyes swam with sadness as she gripped her hands together to try to hide the fact that they were trembling.

"Natsu," Hearing his name, his head popped back up, "The one who found you… it-it wasn't… Igneel." Natsu's eyes grew wide and his mouth opened a bit letting loose a small gasp of air, "The one who found you was… Cisarius."

"Cisarius… found me?" Natsu whispered, "Not… Igneel…? He… _lied _to me?"

"NO!" I shouted, making everyone jump back from the sudden outburst, "Did he ever say he found you?" Natsu thought about my question before shaking his head, "Right, he only said he raised you which is absolutely true! Okay? He _never _lied to you."

Natsu still looked unsettled, "Okay, but if Cisarius found me, why didn't he raise me?" Natsu asked, "Why did Igneel adopt me instead of him?"

"I'm not sure exactly why. Cisarius said something about the gold dragon Sierrasono, one of the few dragons who can see glimpses into the future."

The small, white cat standing next to Wendy, let loose a little gasp as her eyes grew wider with shock. I examined the little cat through narrowed eyes, wondering why she had that reaction. Apparently Wendy noticed me staring at the little cat because she said, "Charla has the ability to see the future too."

Charla nodded her head, wrapped up in her thoughts, "I didn't know there were others who could see the future too…"

"Yeah, neither did I. I thought dragons were the only ones. Well, whatever. Sierrasono said that Natsu was not the child that Cisarius was going to adopt. Cisarius felt the same way in his heart, so Igneel took you in Natsu, saying he had grown fond of you in the short amount of time that he knew you."

Natsu smiled a little at that, enjoying the fact that Igneel was fond of him. He hadn't been listening very well and I could tell that he was confused about Igneel, the only father he had known his whole life, and suddenly things were revealed that shattered the life into a million pieces. It was hurting him more than he let it show.

"Back in the village, our parents lied and said that Natsu had died. The village visibly relaxed, and warmed up to our parents once again, but they still didn't care for me. Seeing their attitude towards me, our parents began to ignore me and treat me badly."

A small prick of pain made its way into my heart as I dredged up memories I would've rather have left alone. My hands began to tremble which did not go unnoticed as Natsu and Lucy moved to sit on either side of me. The warmth from their bodies comforted me. I was glad Natsu still cared for me even though I've completely messed up the world he thought he knew.

"They fed me spoiled or rotten food, gave me thin blankets and I had to sleep on the floor. My clothes had holes and tears in them and they beat me. I still loved them though. Being a child, I thought the way the treated me was normal, that they were just trying to get me to be strong, and when I was four they took me on a 'camping trip' into the wilderness, as they called it. I wandered away from them and got lost. I curled up in a ball underneath a tree and cried my soul out. That's when Cisarius found me. He'd been keeping an eye on me and when he realized I was lost, he led me back to our parents. I saw them standing in camp, but before I could run to them I realized something was off."

A solitary tear ran down my cheek, leaving a trail, which I quickly rubbed away, but Natsu say it and wrapped his arm around my shoulders in an effort to comfort me.

"They were smiling, laughing even. The said things like 'The little brat's gone!' and 'We're finally free at last'. Reality came crashing down on me as I figured our that they never wanted me. A twin's still a twin even if their other half is gone. They abandoned me! They never wanted me or Natsu!"

I let loose a sob, and the dam finally broke, letting loose all of my tears. They streamed down my face to drip of my chin onto my lap. Through my blurry eyes I could see Lucy, Levy, Wendy, Mira and… Erza? They were all crying for me, someone they just met and yet they have so much heart that they share my sorrow. Their tears only made me cry more, and I leaned into Natsu's chest, craving the warmth and comfort that rolled off of him. Natsu cradled me as my sobs echoed around the hall.

"Ryu-chan," Mira murmured to me, "Don't push yourself. You don't have to continue."

Numbly, I shook my head, "No, Natsu deserves to know." I brushed away my tears and took a few deep breaths before I finished talking, "Disgusted at my parents, Cisarius took me away from them. Realizing this was what Sierrasono was talking about; when she said he couldn't adopt Natsu, that there was someone else he was going to. She meant me. So I grew up with Cisarius. Like how you grew up with your dragons," I nodded towards Gajeel and Wendy, "He taught me Silver Dragon Slayer magic and how to read and write. Fourteen years ago, he said he had business to attend to and that he would be gone for a while. That's when the seven dragon lords met with each other and left, but not before Cisarius told me about Natsu. After that, I travelled, searching for Natsu. I trained with some martial artists, and in those few months, I surpassed them all in terms of skill. So I left them and ended up wandering around, aimlessly, before being caught in a magic that stopped me from aging. It released me three days ago and that's when I met Lucy in Hargeon."

The guild was silent as they all processed the information that was thrown at me. Mira handed me a mug of spiced apple cider which I inhaled immediately, welcoming the spicy warmth that soaked into me. Someone cleared their throat, causing me to look up.

"So," Romeo said, "the dragons didn't abandon them?"

I shook my head, my bangs brushing over my eyes. I like this kid. He figured it out immediately, "They'll be back. They're just on a business trip, a really long one that they couldn't take their bratty, little kids on."

"Grandine… didn't leave me?" Wendy whispered so softly that if I my ears hadn't been so finely attuned, I wouldn't have heard it, "She'll come back… for me?"

I gripped her hands, squeezing them, and smiled at the little girl, "Yes, Grandine will be back for you." I turned to Gajeel, "And so will Metalicana. All the dragons will be back. There's no doubt about it. I know it because the dragons are our parents, and parents _never _abandon their children."

I stretched out my arms and legs, my muscles protesting after sitting for so long. My breathing seemed easier and more relaxed, and I realized that it was because I had finally told someone about Natsu and I. The large weight had finally been lifted off my chest. I was about to move towards Natsu, but I quickly moved backward as I felt his body temperature peak suddenly. Sure enough, he burst into flames and leapt to his feet with a yell.

"All right! I'm all fired up!"

"Natsu!"

"Shit! I'm on fire!" Macao cursed and batted at the flames that licked at him, "Quick, water! Anything! Eyaaaaahhh!" He screamed as Cana flung some booze on his coat, making the flame get bigger, before Mira tossed a bucket of water on him, dousing the fire with a hiss, "Phew! Thanks, Mira! And you!" He shook his finger at Cana who innocently drank booze out of one of her many barrels, "Are _trying _to kill me?"

"You _did _say anything…"

"IDIOT!" Erza yelled, hitting Natsu over the head wither iron fist.

Natsu only grins sheepishly, not sorry at all about what he did, "Ryu, Happy, Lucy, Erza… I'm in a good mood, so even _you, _Gray. Let's go on a job!"

We all stare at him completely caught off guard. Then Lucy lets out a small giggle, which turns into a full borne laugh which everyone in the guild joins. Natsu, by the expression on his face, has no idea why we're laughing.

"What," Lucy gasps out, "What job?"

"Well… one with lots of action that pays high!" Natsu grins slyly, "Meaning… an S Class Quest!" He shouts happily.

"NO." Erza drops the word, bluntly, on Natsu and accompanied it with another iron punch.

The guild was roaring now as a second bump appeared atop the first one on Natsu's head.

I snickered, "Punch him again, Erza! Then it'd look like a snow man!"

And she did just that. Levy began to draw a face on the snowman, and before we realized it, the entire guild was fighting over who got to draw on Natsu next. The guild erupted into another bar fight, with Natsu as the leader, but no one could take him seriously. It seemed the pens had strayed from the snowman to Natsu, because he sported a curly mustache, some bottle cap glasses, swirls on his cheeks and some other drawings all around his body. Booze was spilled, tables and chairs destroyed and injuries were on everybody, except for Erza and I who came out unscathed. People, one by one, began to pass out from exhaustion, and soon the only ones left awake were Erza, Levy, Lucy and me. We quietly went around, draping blankets across the bodies, and cleaning the hall up.

"Ryu-chan, I can call you that right?" Levy called out to me.

"Call me what you'd like."

"When you were frozen in time like us, what magic was used?"

I opened my mouth, but I honestly didn't know, "My guess was that it might have been Sierrasono. I've never met her, but according to Cisarius she's a scarily strong dragon. He says that she'd rank above him, but she declined the position to stay solitary."

We swept up the rest of the mess in silence, listening to the groans and snores of Fairy Tail. I didn't care what magic was used on me; that was in the past just like my ex-parents. 'Let bygones be bygones' I believe is the saying. I personally am really looking forward to the job with Natsu, Happy, Lucy, Erza and Gray tomorrow.

Chapter 5 End


	6. Chapter 6: Showing Off

Chapter 6

The guild is too silent. Way too silent for Fairy Tail. I push on the front doors and they creak open to release the smell of booze and the sight of passed out guild members. Tables and chairs are destroyed, the remnants lying all over the guild hall. A bar fight has obviously taken place as the place reeks of booze, sweat and blood. Fried, Evergreen and Bickslow are leaning against each other in a corner, Cana's asleep still with a bottle of booze in her mouth, and Gray's breath comes out in ice crystals that settle on the table to create an icy layer. I see Natsu leaning, unconscious, against the sleeping figures of Lucy and Levy.

I have information on Ivan for Jii-chan, but I don't see him in the hall, so I lean down to prod Natsu awake. I pause and take a closer look at the dragon slayer as I realize this isn't Natsu. In fact, it's a girl. Growling with impatience I'm about to turn away when the girl lets out a sigh, and the fairy's warm breath of air hits my skin.

I kneel down to take a closer look at the strange, new fairy. Her face is remarkably like Natsu, with sharp features and the slanted eyes only with a bit more femininity to them. Her hair is longer than Natsu's and is silver instead of pink. From her smell I can tell she's a mage, but I can't tell what type only that she's very powerful, much more than Natsu. I'm reluctant to admit that she's probably up to my level.

As I'm studying her face, she twitches and her eyes open up a bit, revealing onyx eyes. She blinks and without warning, punches me twice. They're so quick I don't have to dodge and they nail me in the face and in my stomach. I gasp as the punch to my stomach knocks the air out of me, and the one to my face instantly stings, and I stumble back from their force. The fairy yawns and rolls over to fall back asleep on Levy's shoulder. _The brat punched me in her sleep… That's never happened before._

"Huh? Laxus?" Jii-chan's voice calls from his office and I turn to see his bewildered face, "What are you doing here?"

I hold up a slip of paper for him to see, and his eyes grow dark in recognition.

"Ivan, eh? Come in here," He motions to his office, so I follow him inside, "By the way, what's that?"

"What's what?"

He chuckles and points to my cheek, "You've got a big, red fist mark there, Laxus. Never known you to be the one to let himself get punched."

I snorted and turned away, "Your new fairy brat punched me." I'm not about to let it slip that the girl punched me twice, let alone once.

"Ah," Jii-chan smiled and shook his head, "That would be Ryu. She's a tough one alright."

"She's a weird one. I mistook her for Natsu at first. Don't know why."

Jii-chan grinned mischievously, "That would be because Ryu is Natsu's younger twin sister."

I felt my mouth open a little bit and quickly closed it. I try to contemplate the idiot named Natsu being multiplied by two, but making the second one female. I can't.

"Yeah, we didn't believe it at first, either, but Natsu recognized her deep in his heart even though they'd been separated shortly after birth." Jii-chan smiled, softly, before returning to our previous business, "So, what's the scoop on Ivan?"

I hand him the folded paper, not wanting to delve into it. Jii-chan opens it up, his eyes moving back and forth as he reads what I've found out. Before he can say anything, Mira walks in.

"Master, what should we do? The guild's in a mess…" Her voice trails off as she spots me, and her face lights up in delight, "Laxus! Why are you here?"

I glare and push past her, muttering, "None of your business."

I make a beeline for the door knowing if Natsu heard I'm here…

"Laxus! Fight me!"

Damn. He woke up. I pretend I didn't hear him and practically sprint for the door, but I'm blocked by Natsu. His eyes are wide, but I can tell he's still mostly asleep.

"Natsu, you're sleeping. I'm not really here."

"Yeah, right. I can smell you. You're definitely here!" He shouts, his face lighting up in prospect of the fight he hopes I'll give him.

"Shut _up, _Natsu! Some of us are still trying to sleep!" Gray lifts his head from the table, his eyes shooting ice daggers.

Mira whacks him over the head with one of her platters, "No, you need to get up." Raising her voice, she turns to the rest of the guild, "Get up, Mina!"

"NO!" Everyone groggily choruses, "We're tired, Mira…"

They don't look at her, trying to fall back asleep, but the expression on Mira's face chills me to the bone. She calmly rests her hands on her waist, her smile disappears, and she simply says, "Get up."

Those two words throws the guild into action. They spring to their feet and stretch, singing "Oh, I'm awake. I'm so awake." Mira smiles sweetly and says, "Good," before walking off to work behind the bar to get everyone's breakfast ready. She doesn't notice the solitary fairy who never even stirred at the commotion. The fairy brat, Ryu, sleeps on, now slumped on the ground since Levy threw her off in her haste to get up.

"Laxus! Fight me!" Natsu rushes me, but I dodge easily and toss him aside.

"Ho, Laxus, good to see you."

I inwardly groan as Erza appears beside me, her armor clinking with each step she takes. Her voice echoes around the hall and catches the attention of everyone, excluding the unconscious fairy. My name passes through their mouths, so I spin around and try to make a break for it.

"Laxus," Lisanna's gentle voice calls to me, "Welcome back."

"Heh!" I snort and continue walking, "I'm not back, just visiting Jii-chan."

"Stay awhile, won't you?"

The small voice startles me, and I turn to see Lucy, carefully, approach me. She's got good reason to since I had Evergreen turn her into a stone statue and threaten to destroy her and some others if the guild wasn't handed over to me. It's something I regret, but it's in the past now.

"You may not be a member, but you're family. Right?" Lucy smiles hesitantly and fidgets under the glare at shot at her.

"LAXUS! Fight me!" Natsu roared before falling on his face as one of the few chairs still in one piece shattered over his head.

"Shut it, Natsu! It's too early for noise."

A female voice with huskiness to it growled at him. Natsu spun around, rubbing the spot where the chair nailed him.

"Ryu! You're awake!"

The new fairy stretched her arms above her head and popped her neck, her silver hair falling into her face. Brushing it aside, her onyx eyes scanned the hall before she chuckled and rested her hands behind her neck.

"The guild's a mess, huh?"

"And whose fault is that?!" Natsu challenged.

Ryu raised her left eyebrow and pointed to him, "Yours."

Natsu started to protest, but the guild chimed in.

"She's right, Natsu."

"So protective of your sister…"

"Broke a chair over my head!"

"Set me on fire."

"Spilled my precious booze."

"Punched me in the gut multiple times."

"Okay, okay, I get it!" Natsu held up his hands in defense, "It's my fault."

Seeing a chance I edge towards the doors, but unluckily for me the fairy brat notices me.

"Who are you?" She spoke gruff and blunt when addressing me.

I chose to ignore her and continue to escape the clutches of this infernal guild. A flash of black and silver and the fairy is standing in front of me, blocking my exit. Her speed surprises me, but even more frightening is the strength she uses to keep me here. Using the hand she's place on my chest she's managed to keep me in place. Much to my annoyance I can't push past her.

"I asked you a question."

"That's Laxus. He's the master's mago." Lucy answers for me.

The brat raises and eyebrow and scoffs at me. She sniffs the air around me, her gaze growing dark.

"A second generation slayer. Humph!"

She lets her arm fall to her side and moves aside for to let me leave, yet before I can, Natsu and Gajeel stand in front of me once again. I'm about to explode with frustration, but the fairy brat tells them off.

"Let the fake slayer go, he's not needed."

Now I'm mad.

"What the fuck is your problem? You just met me and yet you hate me!"

She curled her lip at me and turned away, "It's not you personally I hate, it's the dragon lacrima inside you I hate. Magic taken from dragons and put in humans. It's a fiendish act."

"I don't see the difference between a first and a second generation slayer."

The fairy brat whips around and snarls, "Unlike you, we first generation slayers took the time to learn the techniques and have the magic absorbed and become our very bodies. Second generation slayers take the easy way out and have the magic placed directly into them. It's a disgusting way."

At that, I stop short. Not only is the brat Natsu's sister, but she's a dragon slayer as well. It's too much and I begin to laugh. The look on her face is priceless.

"So you're a slayer, Brat? What type are you?"

"My name's Ryu, not Brat and I'm a Silver Dragon Slayer."

"Never heard of that. What magic is used?"

"Well, Silver Dragon Slayer magic is like maker magic where I create things out of silver."

To prove her point she molds a couple swords and shields. She spins a few shurinkan and kunai on her fingers to boot.

"But I can also use non-physical attacks such as Ginryū no Hoko. One of my more favorite attacks is Ginryū no Mirā." Completely excited about explaining her magic, Ryu's totally forgotten to be mad at me, "I create a silver mirror in front of my opponent and it takes and warps their magic to reflect in back on me in a way I can use it."

"Uhhhhh…" Natsu scratches his head, "I don't get it."

Ryu sighs in exasperation, "Erza, if you please, re-equip into one of your many armors."

Erza nods and lifts her head, her magical energy making her hair float around her head. A light envelops her and when it dims down, we can see Erza has donned her Raitei no Yoroi. _Is that a challenge, Erza?_

Ryu's own magical energy lifts her hair and flips her earrings back and forth on her ears. A large silver mirror appears in front of Ryu and Erza's reflection is caught in the reflective side. With a blast of energy, the mirror melts back into silver and wraps around Ryu. She lifts her head and arms as the silver envelops her. An explosion of light blinds us all and after we blink our eyes a couple of eyes a couple of times we see Ryu.

Armor similar to Erza's now adorns Ryu's body. Instead of a separated dress, it's one skin-tight short dress with twin flaps on either side, and since her hair is too short to have a braid, it's been split into two pigtails tied off with bows made of ribbon. Ryu wields a weapon, but not Erza's Lightning Cyclotron; it's a long Naginata with the thunder emblem on the blade on the end. Her gloves and boots are the same as Erza's though.

Everyone is stunned speechless as Ryu takes a better look at the Naginata. She lifts it up and down before spin it around multiple times in her hand and nodding. Turning to the flabbergasted Erza, she says, "You've got one powerful suit of armor here."

"That… that's the same… as my armor?" Erza manages to say.

Ryu nods, but then shakes her head, "Yes and no; it's your armor that's been remade so I can use it easily, so it's not your armor, yet it has the same abilities as yours."

"That's amazing!" Erza exclaims.

"And that's not all! It may look like cloth, but this armor is actually silver!"

"But silver can't move like that; it's a metal, so it's hard."

"Not necessarily," Ryu explains, "I have complete control over my silver, so I can change it how I see fit. Other magic is like that too. Take Natsu for example; normally you're not able to hold fire in your fists, but Natsu can."

Erza and Ryu re-equip back to their normal clothes.

"I can absorb non-physical attacks as well. That's why Cisarius and I are so strong; we can use multiple types of magic."

"So!" Natsu popped up from wherever he was watching, "Can you use Fire Dragon Slayer magic?"

"Maybe. I can try. Let's go outside."

Ryu grabs her brother by the wrist and drags him outside, the rest of the guild in hot pursuit. I follow behind the stampeding pack of mages, not wanting to get trampled.

"Okay," Ryu stands five meters from her brother and raises her right arm, "Hit me with your magic!"

"What?! It'll hurt you!"

The mage shakes her head, "Nope. If I try to use it and I can't, it'll just disappear. It'll only hurt me if I allow it to."

"Okay…" Natsu takes a enormous breath to build up his magic energy, "Karyū no Hoko!"

A large wall of fire barrels towards the fairy who braces herself and right before it hits her she swipes her hand in front of her face; from left to right, up then down, and diagonally from both sides. Those movements caused the fire to swirl around her arms and legs. She flinched and Natsu started forward, ready to douse the fire, but she barked out "NO!", stopping him in his tracks. She grabbed the fire and seemed to test its strength as she pulled and twisted it before she finally swallowed it.

"You're fire is spicy, Natsu," Ryu brushes a tear from her eye, "I don't like spicy foods."

Lucy whacks her over the head, "It's not healthy to eat fire! Natsu's an exception to that rule!"

"And now I am too!" Ryu grins mischievously as she creates a ball of fire in her fist and throws it at Natsu who leaps into the air to catch it in his teeth, "See? I can use Fire Dragon Slayer magic as well now."

"Ryu, you're fire is sweet and sour." Natsu walks up licking his fingers, "Do you think I could learn how to use Silver Dragon Slayer magic too?"

"No way." Ryu answers bluntly, causing Natsu's face to fall, "I'm not saying you don't have the will to do it, I'm stating you're body has been trained the way a Silver Slayer's has, so it wouldn't be able to stand different kinds of magic like mine does."

I'm rather interested in the brat now and wanting to test her, I send a small lightning bolt towards to shock the back of her hand. Ryu ruins that plan when she sense it and grabs it out of the air. She winces as it burns her hand, but then she eats the bolt, coughing out smoke. Glaring at me, she sends a much larger bolt right back at me. I absorb it into me, but I'm pissed that with a small piece of my magic she's been able to reproduce a much larger product.

"A Thunder Dragon Slayer, huh?" Ryu tilts her head back and coughs again. A piece of lightning lighting between her teeth.

"What about it?"

The mage cocks her head, "Nothing. Just confirming," She spun back around to the others, "Hey, Natsu, what about that job?"

Taking that as my cue to leave, I turned away and walked off. My absence wasn't noticed by the rest of the guild as they crowded around Ryu, wanting her attention. I smiled to myself. She's found a great guild. I just hope she can keep up.

Chapter 6 End


	7. Announcement: Very Important

To all my (probably) very annoyed readers!

I'm very sorry for not posting in FOREVER, but I've had this massive writer's block and nothing that I type up is worth shit, and sophomore year has not been very kind to moi (school has thrown AP Biology tests at me… and I failed all of them… and I was passing! …until I stopped doing the OPTIONAL homework that quote: "Not doing it doesn't harm your grade, but doing it helps your grade" (but really, who wants to do thirty-three questions on how cancer cells can evolve and so on and so forth? (science nerds don't get any votes!))… …and now I am failing…), so in other words I will be typing the whole story up on my computer, editing it (because the first draft will be shit, the second draft will crap, the third draft will be dung, etc., etc.) and _then_ I will finally post it. So it might be a very long time, but please, _please, PLEASE _don't give up on me!

Thanks again,

Roar of the Fire Dragon


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